Another hot night and the girls have a front porch social!

Whew. It is sticky here tonight. The temperature is 72 degrees and the humidity is....70%! Even in the house, with the air conditioning running, you can still feel the moisture in the air. And the weird thing is, it is so dry, its been weeks since we've had a decent rain, and the air feels thick.

I decided to step outside and I noticed that the girls were feeling the weather too. Like I said, even with air conditioning, its still muggy, and I can only imagine how hot it is in that hive throughout the day and into the night.

As you can see, the party got started with a few of the girls, but word spread quickly and the next thing you know, a lot of the girls came out to get some of the cooler night air.

Several sources say that one reason bees do this is because of ventilation and another says that its because they just like doing it. When I did my inspection this past Saturday, I put four popcicle sticks under the hive-top feeder to make a slight vent to allow some air to circulate inside the hive. That's a trick from a commercial beekeeper. But honestly, I don't think it has to do with air flow, I think its because they just like to come outside at night and sit on the stoop.

Enjoy the photos of my girls on the porch. More on my two-week inspection coming up!

Bee safe!